Michele Tantussi/Reuters
- Elon Musk said during Tesla's Q2 earnings call that he won't be on every call going forward.
- He plans to join only if "there's something really important that I need to say," he said.
- Musk also said that doing podcast or YouTube interviews means he "can't do actual other work."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
We may be hearing from Elon Musk a lot less going forward.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said during the company's second-quarter earnings call on Monday that he doesn't plan to be on those calls in the future unless there's something pressing he needs to address.
"This is the, I wouldn't say the last time I'll do earnings calls, but this is the – I will no longer be default doing earnings calls," Musk said.
"So obviously, I'll do the annual shareholder meeting, but I think going forward, I will most likely not be on earnings calls unless there's something really important that I need to say," he added.
Musk discussed his plans in response to a question from a retail investor who asked whether Musk would pledge to do interviews once or twice annually with Tesla-focused YouTube channels, to which Musk replied, "Um, yeah, I guess I'll do an interview."
"I mean, just bear in mind, like if I'm doing interviews, then I can't do actual other work," he said. "So it's not - I only have so much time in the day, so - but yeah, I'll do one. I won't do it annually, but I'll do it once."
Musk has said repeatedly that he's stretched thin. During a virtual bitcoin conference with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey earlier this month, Musk said that two-thirds of the "personal and professional pain" he's experienced in life has stemmed from running Tesla, and that he's poured his "life energy" into running the electric car company.
During Model 3 production from mid-2017 to mid-2019 - a time he once described as "production hell" - Musk at one point slept under his desk at the factory and stayed for days at a time as the company raced to produce 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week. He revealed last year that Tesla was a month away from bankruptcy during that period, describing it as a time of "extreme stress and pain."
The company also faced possible bankruptcy in 2008 until a Christmas Eve investment kept the company afloat. "I think we just made it by the skin of our teeth," Musk said in 2015.
Still, despite Tesla's hardships, Musk has found time for other pursuits. The 50-year-old dual CEO - who's currently the second-richest person in the world with a fortune worth $180 billion - also oversees SpaceX, which was recently awarded a $178 million NASA contract to launch a mission to Jupiter. He's also founded three other companies and has six sons, including a 1-year-old baby with the musician Grimes - all while maintaining an active Twitter presence that often gets him into hot water.
Musk also got involved in a public spat with the state of California during coronavirus lockdowns last year, which led him to publicly move to Texas and sell off his portfolio of multimillion-dollar homes. He joined Monday's earnings call from Tesla's Austin-based Gigafactory, and beeping from the plant was audible in the background of the call.